What to do with extra cabinet space?

[dustinbagby]

I am building some cabinets for a new 3 way. Since I want them to be a certain dimension for WAF, I am left with a couple cavities inside that are wasted space (both are 0.2cu ft). One is at the bottom, which I plan to fill with sand. The other is at the top, behind the mid chamber.

I had considered adding a removable panel and placing the crossovers in this space, but the baffle is going to be removable, so I feel that would be unnecessary. I dont want to add .2cu ft of sand at the top of the speaker either, but I feel like it should be deadened in some way. Would expanding foam (like Great Stuff) work?

[Kevin K.]

Re: What to do with extra cabinet space?

I am building some cabinets for a new 3 way. Since I want them to be a certain dimension for WAF, I am left with a couple cavities inside that are wasted space (both are 0.2cu ft). One is at the bottom, which I plan to fill with sand. The other is at the top, behind the mid chamber.

I had considered adding a removable panel and placing the crossovers in this space, but the baffle is going to be removable, so I feel that would be unnecessary. I dont want to add .2cu ft of sand at the top of the speaker either, but I feel like it should be deadened in some way. Would expanding foam (like Great Stuff) work?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-Cor...6?N=5yc1vZbaxx

They sell rigid foam boards at Home Depot or Lowes. You can get them 1/2", 3/4", or 1" thick. If you have a table saw, you could cut them to size and cut enough pieces to fill your void. Would be considerably lighter than sand.

[Jeff B.]

Re: What to do with extra cabinet space?

Why not just extend the midrange cavity into that volume and fill it with damping material? It has the advantage of less reflected midrange energy inside the enclosure.

[mresseguie]

Re: What to do with extra cabinet space?

Would you consider a sandwich made from vinyl floor tile (the bread) with closed cell foam (the meat)?

The tile is glued to the inside walls of the space. I'm not suggesting it be glued to all six sides of the space, but the two largest walls. [I'm imagining the space to be a long-ish rectangle.] The vinyl gives you mass kinda like mass loaded vinyl used in car audio damping. The closed-cell foam absorbs different frequencies than the vinyl. Closed-cell foam can be cut into pretty much any size and shape the user wishes. Such a sandwich would be considerably lighter than sand yet more effective than foam alone.

This is essentially the same thing as commercially available products such as Black Hole 5 and No Rez, but a whole lot cheaper.

I was once warned to be careful of 'Great Stuff' (or similar) because of its tendency to keep expanding until it completely dries resulting in bulging panels if one is unlucky enough o use a tad too much.

[dustinbagby]

Re: What to do with extra cabinet space?

Why not just extend the midrange cavity into that volume and fill it with damping material? It has the advantage of less reflected midrange energy inside the enclosure.

Guess that would make sense, huh? Are there any disadvantages to this? Obviously over excursion wont be an issue since it will only be playing from ~300-2k.

[Dwight]

Re: What to do with extra cabinet space?

Hidden door, secret hiding place, tell no one

[Tin_Ears]

Re: What to do with extra cabinet space?

Hidden door, secret hiding place, tell no one

Good place for your stash of weed... probably good for your highs. :D

[isaeagle4031]

Re: What to do with extra cabinet space?

No issues at all Dustin. Line it with foam and stuff it.

[Tin_Ears]

Re: What to do with extra cabinet space?

no issues at all dustin. line it with foam and stuff it.

twss :D

[dustinbagby]

Re: What to do with extra cabinet space?

twss :D

Nice

[50 watt head]

Re: What to do with extra cabinet space?

Sandwich baggies filled with cat litter.

[craigk]

Re: What to do with extra cabinet space?

Sandwich baggies filled with cat litter.

would used be better ? extra density and all.

[[email protected]]

Re: What to do with extra cabinet space?

Why not just extend the midrange cavity into that volume and fill it with damping material? It has the advantage of less reflected midrange energy inside the enclosure.

+1

[tyger23]

Re: What to do with extra cabinet space?

Sandwich baggies filled with cat litter.

Cat litter... That's funny.

A few years back there was a major speaker manufacturer who experimented with using cat litter as a stuffing medium that expanded the bass presence of small speakers. Basically, they would put cat litter in a tea bag and stuff it in the enclosure of a very small speaker.

It worked amazingly well, but it has the major drawback of being hygroscopic and would therefore cause corrosion and deterioration of the speaker's frame, voice coil, and leads.

[Wolf]

Re: What to do with extra cabinet space?

Cat litter... That's funny.

A few years back there was a major speaker manufacturer who experimented with using cat litter as a stuffing medium that expanded the bass presence of small speakers. Basically, they would put cat litter in a tea bag and stuff it in the enclosure of a very small speaker.

It worked amazingly well, but it has the major drawback of being hygroscopic and would therefore cause corrosion and deterioration of the speaker's frame, voice coil, and leads.

At least I place it in another sealed off chamber.... It does work for mass-loading.

Later,
Wolf